Emily June Wilcox - Wealth Strategist

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬’ 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 🎓 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨?

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 “𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄” 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟑 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝟓𝟐𝟗 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧! ⤵️

#𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 #𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 #𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲

Don’t know your actual retirement number? That’s not a small oversight — 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤.
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Most high earners assume they’re “on track” because they have a 401k, a brokerage account, maybe even a financial advisor managing investments.
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But when I ask one simple question —
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“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴?”
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— they don’t know.
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And that’s dangerous.
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Because retirement math isn’t just about hitting some random portfolio number.
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Inflation changes the math.
Taxes change the math.
Healthcare changes the math.
And lifestyle creep absolutely changes the math.
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𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲.
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Here’s the real way to calculate your retirement number:
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1️⃣ First, determine the annual lifestyle income you actually want in retirement — not just your current expenses, but the lifestyle you plan to live.
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2️⃣ Second, adjust that number for inflation over your working runway.
If you’re 42 and retiring at 62, you’re not funding today’s lifestyle. You’re funding inflated future dollars.
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3️⃣ Third, factor in taxes based on where your money is held.
Pre-tax accounts, after-tax accounts, and tax-free accounts all behave differently.
If you don’t plan withdrawals strategically, your “retirement number” is wrong before you even start.
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4️⃣ And fourth, account for sequence risk — the first five years of retirement matter more than the last twenty. A poor withdrawal strategy early on can permanently damage your portfolio.
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If you haven’t run those numbers, you’re not planning retirement.
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𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈.
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If you’d like the exact retirement number worksheet I use with $250K+ earners, comment “𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑” and I’ll send it over.

If you’re making over $250,000 a year and your entire wealth strategy is “max out the 401k and let my broker handle the rest,” that’s not a strategy.
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That’s delegation without architecture.
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Now — investment management matters.
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But investment management and wealth strategy are not the same thing.
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A broker manages assets.
A strategist designs structure.
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𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:
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Asset management asks:
“How do we grow this money?”
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Wealth architecture asks:
“Where should this money live in the first place?”
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Different accounts are 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺.
They 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 in retirement.
They 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 under stress.
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If all your capital is flowing into pre-tax retirement accounts and taxable brokerage accounts, you may be unintentionally creating:
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😬 Future tax concentration
😬 Limited liquidity
😬 And withdrawal rigidity in retirement
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High earners don’t usually have an income problem.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.
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Before optimizing returns, you should optimize positioning.
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Because a well-structured 6% return can outperform a poorly structured 8% return after taxes and friction.
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My role isn’t to replace your advisor. ❌
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It’s to ensure your capital has a coordinated blueprint before it’s deployed.
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If you want to see what a real wealth map looks like for $250K+ earners, comment “𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐘” and I’ll send you an example framework.

If you’re earning over $250,000 a year and your entire college plan is “just max out the 529,” that’s not necessarily strategy — that’s default thinking.
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𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 — 𝟓𝟐𝟗 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝.
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But for high-income families, they are often incomplete.
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Here’s why:
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A 529 locks money into a very specific lane.
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It grows tax-advantaged — which is great —
but it also limits flexibility.
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If your child doesn’t need all of it,
if they get scholarships,
if they choose a different path,
or if legislation changes…
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You’ve overfunded with a lot of money in a bucket that has tons of rules.
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Thus giving up optionality, and increasing your risk.
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𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:
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1️⃣ First, liquidity.
How accessible is the money if life doesn’t go according to plan?
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2️⃣ Second, opportunity cost.
If you aggressively fund a 529, what higher-yield or more flexible vehicles are you not funding instead?
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3️⃣ Third, tax diversification.
If all your college dollars live in one tax structure, you’ve reduced your maneuverability later.
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The goal isn’t just to “pay for college.”
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡.
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Most families earning $250K+ don’t have a college funding problem.
They have a strategy problem.
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And those are very different things.
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If you’d like to see three alternative structures high-income families use to fund college more strategically, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 “𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄” and I’ll send it over. ⤵️